If you have known someone who has unfortunately suffered from pancreatic cancer, you know that the short-term prognosis is grim.
Scientists have long sought to unravel the mechanisms of its aggressiveness. Answers are now emerging from the work of a Brazilian team, which has identified the central role of a specific protein, periostin.
This research, published in
Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology, demonstrates how pancreatic stellate cells produce this molecule. Their work helps explain some of the obstacles encountered in treating this cancer.
Periostin operates by transforming the extracellular matrix, the structure that envelops and supports healthy tissues. Consequently, cancer cells can move more freely through the pancreas. This alteration of the mechanical properties of the environment thus opens pathways for an accelerated expansion of the disease.
With this modification, tumors acquire the ability to infiltrate adjacent nerves, a phenomenon known as perineural invasion. The nerves then serve as conduits for dissemination to other organs, which partly explains the rapid spread of this cancer. This ability to use nerve pathways is, in fact, an important marker of its aggressiveness, frequently observed from the very beginning of its progression.
Furthermore, the altered environment generates dense fibrosis around the tumor, forming a physical barrier. This screen limits the access of chemotherapy drugs to malignant cells, thereby reducing the effectiveness of conventional treatments. The tumor therefore benefits from a protected zone that allows both its growth and its dissemination.
Inhibiting periostin could constitute a method to hinder this nerve invasion. Clinical trials exploring this avenue are already underway for other cancers, offering hope for the development of more targeted therapies against pancreatic cancer. Blocking this protein could restrict the tumor's metastatic potential and potentially improve the impact of current treatments.
An approach that provides hope for reducing the aggressiveness of pancreatic cancer, but we must not forget that unfortunately many cancers are detected too late. Prevention is also part of the solution.